Belgrade Cancels Five Farm Subsidy Calls for 2026
Conclusions signed on October 28 annul every public call for 2026 farm subsidies, and the money goes back to the city budget. The notice gives no reason.
Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic signed five conclusions on October 28, 2026, annulling every public call for farm subsidies this year. Proceedings on submitted applications are suspended, and the money earmarked for incentives returns to the City of Belgrade budget. A notice from the Secretariat for Agriculture, published on beograd.rs, does not say why the calls were cancelled.
What do the conclusions annul?
One public call was annulled for each of five areas, and each carries its own conclusion number:
- purchase of attachments: 3-5299/26-G
- purchase of tractors: 3-5296/26-G
- beekeeping: 3-5298/26-G
- livestock: 3-5295/26-G
- fruit, vegetable and crop growing: 3-5300/26-G
The conclusion on tractors states that the public call was published on the city website on July 1, 2026. The same conclusion annuls the final ranking list XXXVI-03 number 32-6/2026 of October 16, 2026, and voids all decisions on objections to the preliminary list of September 24. Point 4 provides that the money earmarked for subsidies returns to the city budget, while the Secretariat is to notify applicants.
How much money was set aside for incentives?
The Secretariat for Agriculture’s revised financial plan, adopted on December 23, 2025, provided a total of 533 million dinars (~4.5 million euros) for incentives. The breakdown by area was reported by N1:
- tractors: 174 million dinars
- attachments: 144 million dinars
- livestock: 118 million dinars
- fruit growing: 56 million dinars
- beekeeping: 41 million dinars
Incentives were paid as refunds. A farmer first paid the supplier for the machine in full, and the city then returned 80 percent of its value. The subsidy for attachments was capped at 500,000 dinars (~4,300 euros) per applicant, and for tractors at 1,000,000 dinars (~8,500 euros). Euro amounts are converted at a rate of about 117 dinars.
What are farmers in Sopot and Grocka saying?
Several farmers from Sopot and Grocka contacted the N1 newsroom. They say the Secretariat told them by phone that there would be no subsidy money, about ten days after the final lists were published. By then many had already paid for tractors and machinery, and suppliers, they say, refuse to refund the money because the equipment has been delivered.
One farmer from Sopot, whose name was not published, claims the Secretariat told him the mayor had decided to withdraw the funds and that a later payout is not possible. That claim has not been confirmed. He told N1:
“Nobody hinted that there was no money for subsidies. The elections are over now, and I assume that is why we were told there is no money.”
As of publication, the city had not answered N1’s question about where the money is and whether it was redirected, and nobody picked up the Secretariat’s landline phones.
How did the opposition and students react?
Stefan Simic, a city councilor and president of the Belgrade branch of the Free Citizens Movement, demanded that Sapic immediately secure the payments or resign. He asked Agriculture Secretary Sava Pavicic why the calls were issued and the final lists published if there was no money. In a statement, he said:
“If the City has no money for measures it announced itself, a serious question arises as to whether the city’s finances are heading for collapse.”
Students in blockade at the Faculty of Agriculture also issued a statement. They said farmers must not suffer because of political changes, and in their demand they wrote:
“We demand that the competent institutions urgently clarify the situation and that all farmers who meet the prescribed conditions be allowed to exercise their right to incentives.”
The City of Belgrade has so far not published an answer to questions about why the calls were annulled.
